The Canadian company focuses on recovering rare earths from magnets in end-of-life products.
Canadian critical minerals recycling company Cyclic Materials has secured another $53 million from investors, including the venture capital branches of German carmaker BMW and Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, as well as Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. According to a press statement, the start-up will use the investment to fast-track international growth and build rare earth recycling infrastructure in the United States and Europe.
Founded in 2021, Cyclic Materials focuses on recovering rare earths from permanent magnets from end-of-life products such as electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and electronic waste. Companies with which Cyclic signed partnerships include German magnet maker Vacuumschmelze and Swedish energy company Vattenfall, which seeks to recycle 100 percent of its permanent magnets used in wind turbines under a new initiative. British vehicle salvaging company Synetiq, on the other hand, will supply EV and auxiliary vehicle motors from which Cyclic aims to recover magnets.
Pieces in the Puzzle of the Recycling Value Chain
Cyclic extracts a mixture of rare earth oxides or MREO from these magnets, which must be further separated into individual rare earths before elements such as neodymium or praseodymium can be reused. Belgian chemical company Solvay has already signed an offtake agreement with Cyclic Materials to refine the MREO at its plant in France (we reported). Solvay then aims to supply European magnet makers and automotive companies with the raw materials, essentially completing the recycling value chain. This could reduce the need for more mines and limit import dependencies.
The funding round was the latest in a series of investments since Cyclic’s inception in 2021 and was led by ArcTern Ventures. Microsoft’s Innovation Fund and BMWi Ventures were already involved in the start-up earlier (we reported).
Photo: iStock/xiao zhou
